With Breaking Bad's End in Sight, Saul Goodman Spin-off and Other Drug-Trade Projects in the Works

With just five more episodes ofBreaking Bad until Walter White and Jesse Pinkman drift off to that great big meth lab in the sky, studios are exploring options for consoling Breaking Bad's future bereft viewers with more drug-related fare. Today, Varietyalerts us thatJustifiedstar Walter Goggins has collaborated with Shieldwriter Adam Fierro for a drama calledGringo, about Mexican drug cartels. Per the report: “Gringosrevolves around an American cop who moves south of the border with his Mexican wife and gets caught up in the cartel wars.” Fox has given the project a script order.

In other news,Breaking Badwriter-producer George Mastras is set to adapt Dean Unkefer's memoir, 90 Church: The True Story of the Narcotics Squad from Hell, for Universal, withSnow White and the Huntsman's Rupert Sanders positioned to direct. Unlike the AMC series, 90 Church approaches the drug drama from the perspective of the agents attempting to track down the criminals behind the narcotics operation.

In the meantime, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan confirmed last month that he is trying his darndest to spin off his prized AMC drama with a prequel revolving around Walt and Jesse's amazingly sleazy bus-bench lawyer, Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk. “It’s my fervent wish for it to happen, and I’ve been working with [Breaking Bad writer] Peter Gould to try and figure out what a Saul series would entail,” Gilligan told critics last month. “I really hope it happens. It’s for powers bigger than me to figure out.” Meanwhile, in a new interview published today, Odenkirk tells Rolling Stone that he is keeping his expectations about the project at bay. “[I]f [Vince]'s talked about doing a spinoff, then I believe him and he's serious about it,” Odenkirk says. “That's all I know. I certainly don't think I'm owed a single goddammed thing. I've been rewarded, seriously, for being a part of this amazing show, and it's all I could ever ask for to be included[omitted the way] in the way I've been included so far. Anything after this . . . I don't know what's going to happen, and my expectations are nonexistent.”

Breaking Bad ends its Emmy-winning, five-season-long run on September 29 with a finale titled “Felina.”